Minnesota Joins Suit Accusing Facebook Of Creating Monopoly

MINNESOTA — The Federal Trade Commission, with bipartisan support from attorneys general in Minnesota and dozens of others, filed an antitrust lawsuit in federal court Wednesday against social media giant Facebook.

In the suit, the FTC accuses the company of illegally dominating the social media industry and eliminating business threats through years of monopolization and anticompetitive conduct.

According to the complaint, Facebook has used a “systematic strategy” over the years to eliminate threats to its business. This includes the company’s acquisition of Instagram in 2012 and mobile messaging app WhatsApp in 2014, both of which were perceived as an “existential threat to Facebook’s monopoly power.”

The lawsuit also alleges Facebook has limited third-party software developers’ access to interconnections to its platform, allowing access only after developers “refrain from developing competing functionalities, and from connecting with or promoting other social networking services.”

As a result of its actions, the lawsuit alleges, Facebook has seen “staggering” profits. Last year, Facebook generated revenues of more than $70 billion and profits of more than $18.5 billion.

The complaint states that Facebook’s actions have not only harmed competition but also left consumers with few choices for personal social networking and deprived advertisers of the benefits of competition.

With the suit, the FTC is seeking an injunction in federal court that could require Facebook to divest its assets, including Instagram and WhatsApp, and require Facebook to seek prior approval for future mergers and acquisitions.

“Personal social networking is central to the lives of millions of Americans,” Ian Conner, director of the FTC’s Bureau of Competition, said in a release. “Our aim is to roll back Facebook’s anti-competitive conduct and restore competition so that innovation and free competition can thrive.”

The lawsuit was filed following an investigation by the FTC’s Technology Enforcement Division.

Attorneys general from 46 states, the District of Columbia, and Guam comprise the bipartisan coalition that signed on in support of the lawsuit.

"Online social networks have the potential to improve our lives, especially during the pandemic — but it cannot come at the cost of breaking laws designed to keep our economy fairer for everyone," Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison said.

"Facebook’s dominance in social networking is no accident: they illegally used their market power to buy or crush any other companies that dared challenge them, all the while building obstacles to make it impossible for any viable competitor to rise up — all in the pursuit of profit, not better serving consumers. I joined this broad, bipartisan group holding Facebook accountable because Minnesotans and all Americans deserve better."